The British GENES blog (GEnealogy News and EventS): Top stories concerning British Isles ancestral research from Irish born Scottish based professional family historian, author and tutor Chris Paton. Feel free to quote from this blog, but please credit British GENES if you do so. Should you wish to get in touch, contact me at christopherpaton @ tiscali.co.uk. Happy hunting!

Beginning in north Tyrone and Australia over a century ago, the storys depicts the eroding of the dignity of a wealthy family and leaving behind a beautiful home decaying into a hollow shell that can still be seen today.

Joy Ware, an Australian descendant of the Ogilby family who built Altnachree Castle on the side of a lovely valley near Donamana, has recently published a book on the story Altnachree: An Irish Castle, A Family, and A Man With A Passion.

My wife Claire is planning to swim from the Scottish island of Cumbrae to the town of Largs on September 14th to raise money for local charity Gillian's Saltire Appeal, providing respite for families affected by cancer (Claire's mum and sister in Ireland have previously come through cancer, whilst my mum, based in England, currently has bladder cancer). Her Just Giving sponsorship page, with further details, is at http://www.justgiving.com/Claire-Paton1. If you can help to sponsor her, even by a wee amount, we'd be very grateful - many thanks!